Uni expert highlights organ donor shortage

Organ transplantation is a life-saving development, but there is a problem – there are not enough organs to meet the ever increasing demand.

A new book aiming to shed light on this shortage has been edited by University of Bedfordshire expert, Professor Gurch Randhawa.

Organ Donation and Transplantation - Public Policy and Clinical Perspectives, is packed with expert chapters and is released this month. It provides specialist information on public policy and clinical developments on organ donation and aims to help improve the number of organ donors.

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Professor Randhawa is Professor of Diversity in Public Health and Director of the Institute for Health Research at the University, as well as Chair of NHS Bedfordshire and Luton, a Primary Care Trust cluster organisation.

His study focuses on UK transplant inequalities, leading on from his research that found that one in five people waiting for a transplant in the UK are from African-Caribbean or South Asian communities.

Professor Randhawa’s research found that these people groups can wait, on average, twice as long as white British people for a kidney transplant.

He said: “The book provides an analysis and overview of public policy developments and clinical advances that will hopefully ensure an increased availability of organs and greater graft survival. The emotional and physical burden on waiting patients and their families can be lifted.

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“People often find organ donation a difficult subject to raise with their friends and family. This book has contributions from experts from the fields of medicine, public policy and academia so it will give a clearer picture on the issue of organ donation in this country.”

Professor Randhawa is also Co-Chair of the European Working Party on Organ Donation among Diverse Populations and a Member of the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidelines Development Group on Organ Donation.

You can find out more about organ donation and join the NHS Organ Donor Register by telephoning 0300 123 23 23 or visiting the website